Page 6 of To Break a Demon Curse

“Then no deal,” I said, crossing my arms stubbornly.

Carnon sighed, running his fingers through his hair behind the horns. “Counteroffer,” he said, leaning forward on the little metal table. “Let me help you learn to control the magicwhileI try to find out if I can remove it.”

“No,” I balked. “I don’t want to use it.”

Carnon frowned again. “Ineedyou to be able to defend yourself. I may seem completely civilized”—I scoffed at this—“but we are not a civilized people in general. Other demons will try to manipulate you against me, or try to hurt you to force my hand. This magic can protect you, if you learn to wield it.” He sat back, looking at me thoughtfully. “If at the end of this deal you want me to get rid of it,” he finally conceded, “and if I evencanget rid of it, I will. How’s that?”

“Fine,” I agreed through gritted teeth, realizing that he had a point about the protection. “Then you also continue to offer me your protection after I leave,” I added. “And you send me and my mother with enough money that we can go wherever we choosewhenwe leave.”

“Fine,” Carnon agreed with a smirk. “I told you, you’ve already invoked my protection. It’s yours, whether you want it or not. Anything else?”

“No sex,” I said adamantly, my cheeks heating a little at the look he gave me. “Or kissing, or anything romantic.”

“Ah,” he replied, the smirk stretching into a broad grin. “Now I can’t in good conscience swear a blood bargain to that,” he said. “But I can vow to not touch you romantically until you ask me to.”

“I won’t ask you,” I said, my blood heating at the idea of us together. I tamped the feeling down, confident that this was a vow Icoulduphold with blood.

“Then you have no reason not to agree,” he said, still smiling at me. “Is that all?”

I took a breath and stood, walking over to the balcony to gaze out at the city below. Carnon stood and joined me, leaning on his elbows to gaze at the city with me. I closed my eyes, letting the cool air of late spring caress my face.

“I want your word that you will let me leave your palace when the Daemon Lords leave,” I said, daring a peek at him.

Carnon pursed his lips, looking at me thoughtfully. “The Daemon Lords will likely insist on seeing us married,” he replied, turning to face me more fully. “How long are you willing to play this game with me?”

“A month,” I said, mirroring his movement so we were looking at each other.

“A year,” Carnon countered. I gawked at him, and he laughed. “Be reasonable, Elara. We have to convince the Daemon Lords that this is not a ruse, train you in the use of your magic so you can protect yourself from the Crone, and rescue your mother. A month won’t be enough time.”

I pursed my lips. I had expected he would argue, and prepared for it. The way he was looking at me made something warm and ridiculous flicker inside me.

“Two months,” I suggested.

“Eight months,” he argued, frowning. “Unless you don’t want to save your mother?”

I turned away, fear for Mama gnawing at me. The city below us was like a painting from this height, but I didn’t have it in me to admire Oneiros while arguing with its king.

“Elara,” Carnon said, lifting a hand to my cheek to gently turn me back to face him. For some Goddess-damned reason I let him. “I promise, I will help you get her out,” he said, looking down at me with sincerity in his eyes. I bit my lower lip, and he blew out a breath, looking torn. “Six months,” he offered. “I need you to stay with me for at least six months, Red, but then I swear, I will let you go if you still want to leave. Please.”

I hesitated for another moment. He had clearly forgotten himself in his desire to convince me, calling me ‘Red’ for the first time in days. It was the nickname he had used for me as we traveled through the Bloodwood together, and it made my stomach twist with both betrayal and longing. He was the same man—or male, rather—who had saved me from the rusalka and the leshy, and who had guided me through the wood unharmed. The same male who had kissed me at Beltane, and asked me a thousand times if I wanted to stop when I offered myself to him. I swallowed, then nodded.

Carnon blew out another breath, sounding relieved. “Good,” he said, dropping his hand from my cheek and producing a short dagger, which he held between his teeth as he rolled up a sleeve. He sliced a line across his palm, and red welled up as he offered the dagger to me. “Would you like to do the honors?”

I sighed, taking the dagger and slicing my own palm with a wince. Carnon grabbed my hand in his, bringing our palms together as warmth flashed over the spot that I had cut.

“Then it’s a deal,” he said.

Chapter 3

“This is pointless,” Carnon drawled as I placed the candles at the points of the newly chalked pentagram on the coffee table. “I can’t break a blood bargain, as you well know.”

“I don’t trust you,” I said, setting out the elements for a binding spell. “So we’re going to do this my way, too.”

The spell used earth elements to invoke trust and grounding. I placed each item in one of the five arms of the star: a sprig of calendula, a pinch of salt, and the rune for trust, which looked like an M. Fluorite or hematite would have made the spell stronger, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I used my athamé for the fourth arm and the quartz crystal for the fifth. In the center, I placed a scrap of paper with the terms of our deal written down.

“How can I help you trust me without magic, Elara?” Carnon asked, watching me as he leaned on the bedpost, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. Akela sat beside him, a stone statue guarding his master. Or maybe guarding me.

I laughed. “That ship sailed days ago,” I said, sitting on one side of the pentagram and holding out my hand to him. “Give me your hand.”

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